Now that I’ve been biking on the roads again for about a month, I’m again coming to grips with being the target of of road rage. About once a week in Williamsburg, I’ve gotten some kind of gesture/horn/scream from someone. People need to relax.
It’s bad enough that several times every week I get one of those “Oh crap!” moments where a car is about to pull out in front of me or run a red light and hit me. This morning, for example, someone at a stop sign didn’t look in my direction before nearly pulling out into me. No more do I even think about going through a stoplight. I stop at every one and really make sure nobody is blowing through the yellow before the light turns green. I’ve had too many close calls when following the rules to justify taking any more risks.
I think the pervasiveness of cell phones and texting is making things worse than it ever used to be. A few weeks ago I was out on a lightly traveled farm road when a massive Suburban speeding in the oncoming direction swerved into the my lane. Through the windshield I could see two hands and a cell phone at the top of the steering wheel. Luckily, they corrected and went back into their own lane.
The attitude of most drivers is that cyclists have no business being on the road. The attitude of most cyclists is that the cyclists have a right to be there. I think “right” is too strong a word. Like a driver’s license, it’s more a privilege. As many before me have said: there are drivers that shouldn’t be driving, and cyclists who shouldn’t be cycling. However, cyclists who follow all the rules still get more than their share of grief. It seems that the main reason drivers hate cyclists is that they hold up traffic. Drivers can’t stand having to wait behind a long line of cars at 25 mph because a cyclist is in front. But, that isn’t any excuse to keep them from the roads, and especially not an excuse to get angry at the cyclist. A cyclist in a 45 mph zone during a typical rush hour will hold up a car for what? 20 seconds? I can’t remember having to wait much longer than that when driving behind one.
I ride at least two feet to the left of the edge of the pavement to make sure I’ve got plenty of space to maneuver in case something happens. I also prefer to be away from the edge since that is where all the nails, rocks, and glass are ready to slice my tires to shreds. Legally, I could ride right down the middle of the lane. I try to stay out far enough so that cars don’t do something stupid and try to squeeze between me and a car in the lane next to mine. Sometimes I get crap for that, but it’s better being safe.
When I was in California, in the Bay Area, every single street had a bike lane. Every single intersection had a magnetometer to specifically detect bikes. Traffic was way worse, but people were way nicer. Back east, we don’t have those niceties, in both the infrastructure and the people. In Virginia Beach, the best they do is put down an extra-wide sidewalk along the road, peppered with protruding manholes and construction debris. It’s actually illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in Virginia Beach, but there are no bike lanes to be seen. In Williamsburg there are a few, which do make a difference when the road is busy. More bike lanes would help, but the problem is that with 90 percent of the constituents having the “no business on the road” attitude, no local money would ever be spent for cyclists.
For now, I will try to limit my time in Virginia Beach so I don’t have to bike there very often. Last time I was there, on the weekend, it took less than three minutes from when I started to get the middle finger. Some guy on a motorcycle leaned on his horn while I was on Atlantic. It wasn’t as bad as this incident a few years ago, but it was still pretty insane, especially since a guy got killed recently on his bike really close to where I go. The terrible attitude towards cyclists really comes out in the comments section of that article.
Until everyone learns to get along, it will be tough going on the bike. I really should just start running again.
Recent Comments